Apple is planning a buy now pay later (BNPL) service as part of its new operating system, iOS 16.
Apple Pay Later will allow users in the US to spread the cost of a purchase into four payments over six weeks, without paying interest or fees. The decision forms part of a range of new iPhone features, including the ability to edit iMessages and a feature intended to help people in abusive relationships. The features were unveiled at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which is the firm’s annual developers’ conference.
BNPL services, which are currently unregulated in the UK, are being criticised for the way they are used by low-income groups. Panorama reported in December 2021 that an estimated 15 million adults of all ages in the UK are actively using BNPL, with the main operators offering the service in the UK being Klarna, Clearpay, and Laybuy as well as PayPal.
Concerns Raised About BNPL Services
Concerns are being raised over whether people are relying on it too much, after Citizens Advice (an independent organisation specialising in confidential information and advice to assist people with legal, debt, consumer, housing and other problems in the United Kingdom) found in March 2022 that one in 12 people are using BNPL services to cover essentials such as food and toiletries.
Citizens Advice also pointed out that young people, people in debt, and people claiming Universal Credit, were at least twice as likely to have used BNPL for these basic costs than other groups. As such, Apple is yet to comment on whether it intends to bring its BNPL service to the UK.
New iOS 16 Features
The new version of iOS 16, due to be released in the Autumn, will bring a range of additional features to the iPhone device.
The iPhone lock screen will have a significant shake-up, with users now being able to do more than simply change the background image. It will become possible to change how the clock looks, and introduce widgets for showing information on weather, the user’s activity rings and more, as it is currently possible on the Apple Watch.
This will also introduce the ability to choose between different lock screens with different functionalities, for example, a lock screen for exercising which has activity monitors. Other significant announcements include the ability to edit and “unsend” iMessages that were sent using Apple’s Messages app, and the introduction of a feature Apple calls Safety Check.
It said Safety Check is intended to “protect individuals in abusive relationships”, by giving users the ability to view and quickly remove all the permissions given to someone else on their phone. This includes removing other peoples’ access to passwords, as well as Find My Phone. Apple added that this also included an “emergency reset”, that allowed people to sign out of iCloud on all devices, and only allowed one device to send and receive messages.
By far, Apple has been praised online for this feature, with one person saying it is “going to help so many people”. Additionally, the Director of Cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation called it a “good thing for survivors of intimate partner abuse”.
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